A variety of syringe closure valves are employed in hospital and other medical/dental settings for use on intravenous lines employed for administering drugs, anesthetics, or nutritional supplements by IV route. The purpose of the closure valve is to block fluid flow out of the line, but allow fluid introduction into the line by a syringe connected to the valve.
The valve may be a simple membrane device having an elastomeric plug which can be penetrated by a needle, requiring that the syringe be equipped with a needle. The problem with this type of valve is the inconvenience and health risk of using a needle, and the problem of needle disposal.
An alternative type of valve is designed for use with a needleless syringe. With this type of valve, the needle fitting of the syringe is attached directly to the valve, forcing the valve into an open condition. Some valves of this type are once-only valves, i.e., not designed to return to a closed condition, or not able to effectively return to a closed condition, after the syringe is removed. In particular, the valve may be leaky to back flow in a closed condition after one or a few uses.
Needleless valves known in the prior art also tend to be damaged or destroyed if the user inadvertently attempts to operate the valve by needle puncture. Further, needleless syringe valves may be expensive in manufacture and construction, due to the number of valve parts involved.
It would thus be desirable to provide a syringe valve that can be operated repeatedly and effectively with a needleless syringe, but which functions without damage if a user attempts to operate the valve with a needle, and which has a simple, easily manufactured construction.
Such a valve would also be useful in a valved container for supplying a medicament or the like in liquid or lyophilized form. Here a needleless syringe could be employed to introduce liquid into the vial, in the case of dehydrated vial contents, and to remove a desired amount of liquid contents from the vial. At the same time, the valve would function normally and without damage if a needle were inadvertently used to operate the valve.